Liberalism, Nationalism, Citizenship: Essays on the Problem of Political Community

Description

Liberals believe that the purpose of politics is to guarantee that
individuals do not face unfair impediments in pursuing the lives they
choose for themselves. Nationalists believe that the purpose of
politics is to ensure that a people's sense of authentic
nationhood wins full expression in powers of collective sovereignty or
self-rule. Both of these forms of political commitment yield
world-transforming political philosophies, but do either of these
visions do adequate justice to a philosophically robust ideal of shared
citizenship and civic membership?
In Liberalism, Nationalism, Citizenship, Ronald Beiner
engages critically with a wide range of important political thinkers
and current debates in light of the Aristotelian idea that shared
citizenship is an essential human calling. Virtually every aspect of
contemporary political experience -- globalization, international
migration, secessionist movements, the politics of multiculturalism --
pose urgent challenges to modern citizenship. Beiner's work on
the philosophy of citizenship is essential reading not just for
students of politics and political philosophy, but for all those who
rightly sense that these kinds of recent challenges demand an ambitious
rethinking of the nature of political community.

About Author

Ronald Beiner is a professor of political science at the University of Toronto.

Contents

Introduction Part 1: Citizenship versus Liberalism 1 Liberalism, Nationalism, Citizenship: Three Models of Political Community 2 The Fetish of Individuality: Richard Flathman's Willfully Liberal Politics 3 Civic Resources in a Liberal Society: "Thick" and "Thin" Versions of Liberalism 4 From Community to Citizenship: The Quest for a Post-Liberal Public Philosophy 5 Is There Such a Thing As a Communitarian Political Philosophy? Part 2: Citizenship versus Nationalism 6 Nationalism's Challenge to Political Philosophy 7 Reflections of a Diaspora Jew in Israel 8 Hannah Arendt As a Critic of Nationalism 9 National Self-Determination: Some Cautionary Remarks on the Rhetoric of Rights 10 Citizenship and Nationalism: Is Canada a "Real Country"? 11 1989: Nationalism, Internationalism, and the Nairn-Hobsbawm Debate 12 Civicism between Nationalism and Globalism Index